Sladeys Blog

2012 and beyond

The Government is expected to respond to the consultation that took place last year on ‘Modern Workplaces’.

There’s a lot to be considered and looked at and many changes may come, as there is no doubt the current government wants to  make changes to employment law to assist businesses if they can.

The main proposals  detailed in the consultation paper include:

• unpaid leave for fathers to attend two antenatal appointments;
• an 18-week period of maternity leave for mothers, followed by a new 34-week period of shared parental   leave;
• the right to request flexible working to be made available to everyone with 26 weeks continuous service, as opposed to just parents of       children under 17, parents of disabled children under 18 and some carers;
• extending the age of the child for which parental leave can be taken (the consultation suggested the child’s 8^th, 12^th, 16^th or 18^th birthday),  as well as increasing the amount of parental leave from the current 13 weeks allowance to 18 weeks;
• amending legislation so that it adequately deals with the situation where workers are unable to take annual leave during one holiday year because of sickness;
• allowing more flexibility in relation to the additional 1.6 weeks statutory annual leave entitlement (which is the difference between the 4 weeks required to be given to employees under EU legislation and the more generous 5.6 weeks given under UK legislation), including the ability to ‘buy out’ the 1.6 weeks or carry it over if there is a case of genuine overriding business need.

There was also discussion  about  to changes to TUPE and collective redundancy consultation  and if supported then

it’s likely a formal consultation will take place on any proposals later in 2012.

Alongside this, further  consultation is expected in relation to the issue of ‘protected conversations’, which are described as ‘frank’ conversations between an employer  and employee such as discussions concerning performance issues or retirement plans, at either party’s request, that will be inadmissible in a  future employment tribunal and having a simpler, quicker and clearer  dismissal process, which may lead to amendments to the ACAS Code  of Practice.

The Government also intends to introduce financial penalties for employers who lose at an Employment Tribunal.  The penalty will be half of the total award made by the Tribunal, with a minimum threshold of £100 and a maximum cap of £5,000. The penalty will be reduced by 50% if paid  within 21 days. However, the levy of a financial penalty will be at the Tribunal’s discretion; it will not be automatic.  No implementation date has been given for this to date.

In addition to the above, we await the outcome of the consultation into introducing fees for bringing an Employment Tribunal claim. The Government’s response to this is expected later this year, with implementation being planned for either 2013 or 2014.

On the whole the Government appears to be striving to cut Employment Tribunal claims and encouraging growth in the economy, however, whether this has the desired effect will remain to be seen.

I you want any assistance on any employment matter, your employment contracts or HR issues please don’t hesitate to contact me by email or on 01623 448304

Russell Jones

“The apprentice” has been required viewing in our house for the last 5 years – all my three daughters and I watch every series. It’s both fun and excruciating at the same time and we all think we could do better.

One factor that has been the same for the last few series however is the mix of girls and boys in the first few weeks. Every series they start out with all-girls teams and all-Boys teams; and every series the boys win the first couple of tasks.

The women seem to spend more time bickering than working on the task; the boys tend to slot into boyish ‘all lads together’ mode fairly quickly. I don’t know why this is – maybe there’s a stereotype that a bunch of strangers can fit into that allows them to gel more quickly; whereas there doesn’t seem to be one stereotype for how women’s behave in business.

It appears to me though that both groups of people tend to perform better when the sexes are mixed up – they seem to have more balance. The laddish behaviour is reduced, the bickering is also reduced (but not wiped out – after all this is the apprentice)

The most entertaining bit to me is in the boardroom – how people are able to fight their corner yet avoid coming across as a whinging raving lunatic (quite a few fall short on that one). Whilst that is entertaining, the ability to argue back against a grilling from an old bloke is not something I’ve had to do much in my business life, and I don’t think it really represents a real-world skill. As its the most entertaining part of the program it has assumed far more importance than it really deserves.

Good tv, but not necessarily good business

Mark

Over the year I will try to keep you abreast of the changes to small buy significant things  relating to good employment practice or what you need to know if things do go wrong, or some planning is needed. 

On the 6 April 2012, the qualifying period to bring an unfair dismissal claim will increase from one year to two years.  The Government has not yet confirmed how it intends to bring the change into effect and how it will deal with  employees who have more than one, but less than two, years’ service on 6 April 2012.

Regulations dealing with Employment Tribunal reform are expected to come into force from 6 April 2012.  Among other things, they deal with Judges being able to sit alone on unfair dismissal cases, an increase in the maximum amount of costs that can be claimed (from £10,000 to £20,000) and an increase in the value of deposit orders that can be ordered from £500 to £1,000, where an employment judge considers that all or part of a claim (or a response) has little reasonable prospect of success.

Statutory Sick Pay will also rise from £81.60 to £85.85 per week.

If you need any advice on this or anything else relating to HR, employment contracts or employment practice please contact me my email or on 01623 448304

Some recent cases have highlighted that standard clauses don’t always work when things go wrong at work.

In a recent case involving Caterpillar Logistics, an employee had left to work for a competitor

Understandably Caterpillar wanted to stop their former employee sharing important  and confidential information with their competitor.

There were various claims made by Caterpillar and sadly each one of them failed as the clauses used to attempt to control the employee were too wide-ranging and too vague.

In an oddly related cases, Wayne Rooney found his ability to control his former agent was not up to his usual ball skills when unfair restrictions were placed on the former agent, allowing the agent to escape the interned control of the contract and act without limitation.

There are no ‘one size fits all’ clauses in this regard, and careful consideration must be given to the business needs, where it operates and how it operates to ensure that a degree of control is retained when relationships come to an end.

These cases show that where key employees are involved in a business it needs care to ensure that standard contracts are not used, but rather detailed and focused clauses are drafted if post employment control is needed.

If you need any assistance on such things please don’t hesitate to email e or call me on 01623 448304.

Russell Jones

Over the year I will try to keep you abreast of the changes to small buy significant things  relating to good employment practice or what you need to know if things do go wrong, or some planning is needed. 

On 1 April 2012 the rates of Statutory Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Pay will increase from £128.73 to £135.45 per week. The weekly earnings threshold  for these payments will also increase to £107 per week.

You sh0uld ensure that you are complying with this    and that any payments you need to make are of the correct amount.

If you need any advice on this or anything else relating to HR,  employment contracts or employment practice please contact me my email or on 01623 448304

Russell Jones

You will remember me blogging  last year on  the government announcing plans to introduce a fee for bringing a case to Tribunal.

They hoped that this would discourage some of the many claims that have been responsible for the vast workload of Tribunals as well as reduce some of the pressure on smaller employers.

That might not be the case though.

Whilst the government has introduced the idea of mediation as an alternative to try to resolve problems,  some employers may just let issues fester.

And just like any other problem that’s not a good idea as cheap prevention is enough better than an expensive cure or even worse.

I would never advise an  employer to  bank on  disgruntled employees not having  the necessary funds to risk paying for Tribunal fees.

You never know those greedy lawyers may find a way of funding these cases – they usually find a way round most things.

Instead I would advise that early and simply advice on grievances and other issues are taken.

Even better we can offer such advise form employment experts, who have worked in industry and understand the issues and problems facing an employer in the real world.

Failing  to deal with the grievances of employees as and when they first arise increases the likelihood of them worsening overtime.

This usually means poor   work satisfaction and motivation leading to reduced profits and increasing over heads.

My advice would be to seek to solve any disagreement as soon as possible before the issue worsens beyond easy repair.

If you need any help on this or any other HR issue, please don’t hesitate to email me or telephone me on 01623 448304 or any of our HR team.

Russell Jones

Over the year I will try to keep you abreast of the changes to small buy significant things  relating to good employment practice or what you need to know if things do go wrong, or some planning is needed. 

On the 8 March  2012, as a result of EU legislation, the Government is required by this date to increase unpaid parental leave from 3 months to 4 months  per child under the age of 5.

You should ensure that you are complying with this and that your contracts of employment are up to date on this and all other recent legislative changes

If you need any advice on this or anything else relating to HR or employment practice please contact me my email or on 01623 448304.

Russell Jones

Over the year I will try to keep you abreast of the changes to small buy significant things  relating to good employment practice or what you need to know if things do go wrong, or some planning is needed.

An annual increase to the compensation limits is coming into force from 1 February 2012, which will see a rise to the maximum  compensatory award for unfair dismissal (for Tribunal cases) from £68,400 to £72,300. The maximum amount for a week’s pay (which is used to  calculate the basic award in an unfair dismissal claim and to calculate statutory redundancy pay) is also rising from £400 to £430.

If you need any advice on this or anything else relating to HR, running your business or employment practice please contact me my email or on 01623 448304

Russell Jones

I recently had the opportunity to talking to Mansfield 2020 at their January monthly meeting.  

It’s a great organisation and if you own or operate a business in North Notts and are not part of it you are really missing out on a great networking and business  opportunity.

Anyway back to TUPE.

What is it? It’s not part of  a Shakespearean play or aYorkshireman’s hairpiece.

But it is something you need to know about if you are buying or selling a business.

It ‘s an acronym that stands for  -  Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment.

A real mouthful but it does say what it is  – a system of protection for  employees.

Whether buying or selling  a business which already employs people, TUPE can be the silent killer for the deal or even for profitably running the business afterwards or making the money you thought you wanted from the sale.

It protects any employee who has been at the business for more than 1 year from simply being dismissed.

And most importantly it controls who pays for the cost of bad employment practice.

So go in and buy the company with a view to getting rid of staff to make it profitable and you could be in a mess.

And with a big compensation and probable legal bill.

Or sell with no thought as to who is responsible for redundancy payments if any crop up and you may be crying in your celebration drink and you part with your well earned cash.

The buyer could end up with:

• Employees with contract  terms that effect the profit from the business

• Employees with large redundancy entitlements which the buyer or new owner  has to fund in the future to restructure the business

• Employees with grievances and issues which the new owner has to deal with.

The seller might just end up with a big bill  when the new owner cuts through the staff bill.

But things can be done  to include:

• Getting the seller to come clean about employee contracts terms and grievance/disciplinary issues

• Getting the buyer to inform the seller if they have plans to  reduce employment numbers.

• Give early thought to what/how you want the employees to fit in your view of the business for the future.

The really sad part is that if you end up  talking to me about it, I’m a litigator and that means it’s  gone wrong and someone is picking up a large bill, which is never nice.

So the motto as always is get early effective and inexpensive advice by asking the questions up front.

The way forward is to get  a business solicitor and HR adviser to be bringing up the relevant questions, and sorting through the employment contracts before the sale or purchase  is finalised, to make sure you know the effect  on the price either way.

It’s only a flavour in a few words, but if you need anything more then please email or telephone Christie Limb or Joanne Godson from our business and HR department.

Russell Joones

01623 448304

The Minister of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, has announced the proposed rates for statutory sick pay and statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay for 2012.

The changes are expected to come into force on 9 April 2012 are: